The Messenger

Weekly Worship Guide of The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, Atlanta Georgia
Sunday, May 17th, 2020 – Κυριακή, 17 Μαΐου 2020
Sunday of the Samaritan Woman - Κυριακή της Σαμαρείτιδος
The Martyr Photini, Equal to the Apostles, the Apostles Andronicus and Julia,

CHRIST IS RISEN!
TRULY, HE IS RISEN!
A Reminder about Kneeling
We are reminded that we do NOT kneel during the consecration of the
Holy Gifts until after the feast of Pentecost. It is at the Vesper service of that day that the faithful are called “on
bended knee” to pray to God.
Artoklasia
Service can be found on p. 139 of the Divine Liturgy Book
Offered by St. Photini Outreach Ministry, in honor of St. Photini, their patron saint.

Today’s Trisagion Prayers

Found on page 127 of the Divine Liturgy Book
40 Day Trisagion for Nicholas Argendeli
2 Year Trisagion for Michael S. Moraitakis
40 Year Trisagion for Sandra (Alexandra) Skafidas
Trisagion for Victims of the Greek Genocide in Pontos
Trisagion for Victims of the Battle of Crete

St. Photini the Samaritan Woman

St. Photini was the woman who talked to Christ by the well of Jacob (John 4:5-42). In this passage,
she is mentioned as “the Samaritan Woman”. From the Synaxarion (account of her life) we learn that the
Lord Himself named her Photini (Φωτεινή) (i.e. “the bright one”).
After meeting Christ she went out and preached to her fellow Samaritans. The Gospel of John says:
“many of the Samaritans believed in Him, because of the word of the woman” (4:39). After Pentecost, St. Photini
travelled to Carthage (West Africa) to continue her missionary work there.
In 64 AD, the Emperor Nero decreed persecution against Christians. Led by a vision, St. Photini
traveled from Carthage to Rome, together with a large number of believers to encourage the persecuted
Christians.
The Romans arrested St. Photini. They tortured her brutally, together with her five sisters and two sons. After three
years of imprisonment and inhumane torments, St. Photini saw her sisters and sons being martyred. She was left alone to
suffer their loss. After three days of mourning and sleepless prayer, the Lord received her soul.
The Church gave her the title “Great Martyr” for having endured so many physical torments and finally the
“martyrdom of conscience”. She is also named “Equal to the Apostles” first because after meeting Christ she dedicated her
life fully to Him. She went out to preach the Gospel and because she stood for the Christians in Rome, she led them, like the
Apostles did, after the Apostles Peter and Paul had been martyred.
As Christ met St. Photini at the well, so our Outreach Ministry aims to reach out and meet people where they are.
This is why St. Photini has been designated as the Patron Saint of this ministry as part of our strategic plan.
 Order of Hymns following the Small Entrance
Apolytikia
Ἀναστάσιμον Ἀπολυτίκιον. Ἦχος δ΄
Τὸ φαιδρὸν τῆς Ἀναστάσεως κήρυγµα, ἐκ τοῦ Ἀγγέλου
µαθοῦσαι αἱ τοῦ Κυρίου Μαθήτριαι, καὶ τὴν προγονικὴν
ἀπόφασιν ἀποῤῥίψασαι, τοῖς Ἀποστόλοις καυχώµεναι
ἔλεγον· Ἐσκύλευται ὁ θάνατος, ἠγέρθη Χριστὸς ὁ Θεός,
δωρούµενος τῷ κόσµῳ τὸ µέγα ἔλεος.
Resurrectional Apolytikion. Mode 4
When the women Disciples of the Lord had learned from
the Angel the joyful message of the Resurrection and
rejected the ancestral decision, they cried aloud to the
Apostles triumphantly: Death has been despoiled, Christ
God has risen, granting His great mercy to the world.

Ἀπολυτίκιον τῆς Ἑορτῆς. Ἦχος πλ. δ΄
Μεσούσης τῆς ἑορτῆς, διψῶσάν µου τὴν ψυχήν,
εὐσεβείας πότισον νάµατα ὅτι πᾶσι Σωτὴρ ἐβόησας· ὁ
διψῶν, ἐρχέσθω πρός µε καὶ πινέτω· Ἡ πηγὴ τῆς ζωῆς,
Χριστὲ ὁ Θεὸς δόξα σοι.
Apolytikion of the Feast. Mode pl. 4
O Lord, midway through the feast, give drink to my thirsty
soul from the waters of true religion. For to all You the
Savior cried aloud, "Let whoever is thirsty come to Me and
drink." O Christ our God, the fountain of life, glory to You.

Ἀπολυτίκιον τῆς Ἁγίας. Ἦχος γ΄ Apolytikion of the Saint. Mode 3

Θείω Πενεύματι καταυγασθεῖσα, καί τοῖς νάμασι,
καταρδευθεῖσα, παρά Χριστοῦ τοῦ Σωτῆρος, πανεύφημε,
τῆς σωτηρίας τό ὕδωρ κατάπιες, καί τοῖς διψῶσιν
ἀφθόνως μετέδωκας. Μεγαλομάρτυς καί Ἰσαπόστολε
Φωτεινή, Χριστό τόν Θεόν ἱκέτευε, σωθῆναι τάς ψυχᾶς
ἠμῶν.
All illumined by the Holy Spirit * you did drink with great
and ardent longing * of the waters Christ Savior gave to
you; * and with the streams of salvation were you
refreshed, * which you abundantly gave to those athirst. *
O Great Martyr and true peer of Apostles, Photine, *
entreat Christ God to grant great mercy to our souls.

Κοντάκιον τῶν Κεκοιμημένων. Ἦχος πλ. δ' Kontakion for the Departed. Mode pl. 4
Μνήσθητι, Κύριε, ὡς ἀγαθὸς τῶν δούλων σου καὶ ὅσα ἐν Remember, O Lord, as You are good, Your servants, and
βίῳ ἥμαρτον συγχώρησον· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀναμάρτητος, εἰ μὴ forgive every sin they have committed in this life. For no
σὺ ὁ δυνάμενος καὶ τοῖς μεταστασι δοῦναι τήν ἀνάπαυσιν. one is sinless except You, Who have power to grant rest to
those who have fallen asleep.

Ἀπολυτίκιον τοῦ Ναοῦ. Ἦχος δ' Apolytikion of the Church. Mode 4

Σήμερον τῆς σωτηρίας ἡμῶν τὸ Κεφάλαιον, καὶ τοῦ ἀπ'
αἰῶνος Μυστηρίου ἡ φανέρωσις, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Υἱὸς
τῆς Παρθένου γίνεται, καὶ Γαβριὴλ τὴν χάριν
εὐαγγελίζεται. Διὸ καὶ ἡμεὶς σὺν αὐτῷ τῇ Θεοτόκῳ
βοήσωμεν· Χαῖρε Κεχαριτωμένη, ὁ Κύριος μετὰ σοῦ.
Today is the beginning of our salvation, and the revelation
of the mystery which was hidden from eternity. The Son of
God becomes the Virgin’s Son, and Gabriel announces the
grace of this Good News. Let us also join with him, calling
to the Theotokos: Rejoice, O Woman full of grace; the Lord
is with you.

Κοντάκιον. Ἦχος πλ. δ.' Kontakion. Mode pl. 4

Εἰ καὶ ἐν τάφῳ κατῆλθες ἀθάνατε, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ᾍδου
καθεῖλες τὴν δύναμιν, καὶ ἀνέστης ὡς νικητής, Χριστὲ ὁ
Θεός, γυναιξὶ Μυροφόροις φθεγξάμενος. Χαίρετε, καὶ
τοῖς σοῖς Ἀποστόλοις εἰρήνην δωρούμενος ὁ τοῖς πεσοῦσι
παρέχων ἀνάστασιν.
Though You went down into the tomb, O Immortal One,
yet You brought down the dominion of Hades; and You
rose as the victor, O Christ our God; and You called out
ʺRejoiceʺ to the Myrrhbearing women, and gave peace to
Your Apostles, O Lord who to the fallen grant resurrection.

Divine Liturgy continues on page 39 of the Divine Liturgy book

Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Κυριακή της Σαμαρείτιδος
PROKEIMENON: O Lord, how manifold are Your works. You have made all things in wisdom.
VERSE: Bless the Lord, O my soul.
TODAY’S EPISTLE READING: Acts of the Apostles 11:19-30

I
n those days, those apostles who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as
Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to none except Jews. But there were some of them, men of
Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of
the Lord was with them, and a great number that believed turned to the Lord. News of this came to the ears of the
church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad; and he
exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit
and of faith. And a large company was added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had
found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church, and taught a large company of people;
and in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians. Now in these days prophets came down from
Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabos stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great
famine over all the world; and this took place in the days of Claudius. And the disciples determined, every one according
to his ability, to send relief to the brethren who lived in Judea, and they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of
Barnabas and Saul.

TODAY’S GOSPEL READING: John 4:5-42

A
t that time, Jesus came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Jacob's well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well. It was
about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." For
his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you,
a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, "If you
knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him and he would
have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where
do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and
his sons, and his cattle?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of
the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water
welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to
draw." Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus
said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is
not your husband; this you said truly." The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers
worshiped on this mountain; and you say that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." Jesus said to her,
"Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming,
and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship
him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that
the Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who
speak to you am he." Just then his disciples came. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but none said,
"What do you wish?" or, "Why are you talking with her?" So the woman left her water jar, and went away into the city
and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" They went out of the
city and were coming to him. Meanwhile the disciples besought him, saying "Rabbi, eat." But he said to them, "I have
food to eat of which you do not know." So the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought him food?" Jesus said
to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, 'There are yet four
months, then comes the harvest'? I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He
who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the
saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor; others have labored,
and you have entered into their labor." Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's
testimony. "He told me all that I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and
he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, "It is no longer
because of your words that we believe, for we have heard ourselves, and we know that this is indeed Christ the Savior of
the world."
“Take up and read, take up and read.” St. Augustine, Confessions, Book VIII, Chapter XII

Divine Liturgy continues on page 51 of the Divine Liturgy book

 A PRAYER AS THINGS GET HARDER
God of gentle presence, you knew the ultimate separation when Christ felt forsaken on the Cross; be with all who
feel their Good Friday has come today. Comfort those who have the virus. Empower all who care for those in
distress, through medicine, acts of kindness or communication. Be present to any who feel utterly alone, without
companions, health or hope. Show us your face amid grief and bewilderment. Inspire us to find new ways to be
together, with one another and with you, before you bring this time of trial to an end.

VIRTUAL COFFEE HOUR

Attached below is the link to access the meeting, the Password is 1 (Zoom is requiring a password now).
When you first enter Coffee Hour your camera and microphone will be on mute by default which you can change
once you are settled. Also, please put your display on Brady Bunch Mode (gallery view) for the best experience. If
we start to see a large amount of people joining I may use the breakout room function to create 'tables' for people
to gather at. If you and a few people would like to use a breakout room please let me know during the meeting
with the chat function and I will try to provide it.
Topic: Coffee Hour
Time: May 17, 2020 11:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

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Meeting ID: 714 380 4788

Password: 1
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Join by Skype for Business

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“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or
come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem as
a rejoicing, And her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of
weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying.” Isaiah 65:17-19

Rev. Fr. Paul A. Kaplanis, Dean

Rev. Fr. Christos P. Mars, Presbyter
Elias Lampropoulos, Pastoral Assistant
2500 Clairmont Road N.E.
Atlanta, Georgia 30329
404-633-5870
www.atlgoc.org